If you’ve ever had Indian food, you’ve probably tasted turmeric. Many south Asian cultures have been using turmeric to spice up their foods for thousands of years, in addition to using it for a wide range of medicinal purposes, which includes reducing fatigue via improved cardiovascular health.
Lately, science has become curious about why Indians love turmeric and have touted it as having curative properties. And it has found not one, but many good reasons. Here’s a breakdown of why turmeric is amazing for your health.
How does turmeric work?
Turmeric works by supplying the body with a compound called curcumin. Curcumin is the active ingredient found in turmeric and is the actual substance that scientists study when they’re investigating the health benefits of turmeric.
In addition to being a powerful antioxidant, curcumin has strong anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it beneficial for the body in several different ways.
Here’s the catch, though: curcumin makes up only about 3% of turmeric by weight. So, while a turmeric-laden curry might please your taste buds, it won’t give you the health benefits of turmeric because of its negligible curcumin content.
This is why you need to use curcumin supplements if you want to reap its health benefits.
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How is turmeric used?
There are two principles you need to remember when using a curcumin supplement:
- Take it with black pepper
- Take it around a fatty meal
That’s because your body does a very poor job of absorbing curcumin normally. Black pepper has a compound called piperine, which has been shown to improve curcumin’s absorption considerably. This is why many curcumin supplements are now supplemented with black pepper.
Also, curcumin is very soluble in fat. When taken with a fatty meal, curcumin’s absorption is enhanced, allowing you to obtain sufficient quantities of it.
Onto the benefits now!
Curcumin keeps your eyes healthy
Glaucoma refers to increased pressure inside your eyes, which can lead to degeneration of cells found in the retina. The retina is what gives you vision, so long-term glaucoma can lead to vision loss.
Luckily, a study conducted on rats showed reduced retinal degeneration in rats who were treated with topical curcumin eye drops. While this effect is yet to be studied in humans, the eye-saving potential of curcumin clearly exists.
Curcumin does wonders for your cardiovascular
Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world, and curcumin prevents it via several mechanisms.
Reduces blood pressure and prevents blood clots
Curcumin improves the function and integrity of your endothelium, which is a layer of cells that lines your blood vessels. A healthy endothelium helps regulate your blood pressure and prevents the formation of blood clots.
Endothelial dysfunction is a well-known driver of cardiovascular disease. When the endothelium breaks down, it allows lipids to seep through, resulting in formation of fibrous plaques in your blood vessels. When these plaques rupture, blood clots rapidly and this is what gives people heart attacks and strokes.
Since curcumin improves endothelial function, it not only keeps your blood pressure under control but also reduces your risk of developing a blood clot.
Keeps heart inflammation at bay
Curcumin also blocks a molecule called NK-kB, which is a major driver of inflammation. Long-term inflammation is implicated in many diseases like cancer, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, and heart disease. By reducing inflammation, curcumin helps keep the endothelium healthy, which in turn maintains good cardiovascular health.
Prevents diabetes, which is a major cause of heart disease
Curcumin keeps your blood sugar under control, helping you deal better with type 2 diabetes. Although many studies regarding this have not been done on humans, curcumin is believed to prevent the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, which are a common cause of death in these patients.
Prevents high levels of LDL cholesterol
LDL cholesterol is also known as “bad cholesterol”, and increased levels of it are a major risk factor for heart disease.
There’s very good scientific evidence that suggests reducing LDL levels reduces your risk of a heart attack and doctors often use a class of drugs called statins to achieve this.
But you may not need statins if you could include a curcumin supplement in your diet because it has been shown to reduce LDL and total cholesterol levels.
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Curcumin may help kill colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is the third most deadly cancer out there, and curcumin has been shown to kill it off. It does it via two mechanisms. First, it directly kills cancerous cells. And second, it prevents angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis means new blood vessel growth, and cancer cells promote it to obtain nutrients. By inhibiting angiogenesis, curcumin effectively starves the cancer off.
In a study involving men with pre-cancerous growths in the colon, 4 grams of curcumin daily reduced these growths by 40%. This means in addition to treating colon cancer, curcumin may also prevent it.
But you should note that doctors don’t really use curcumin to treat colorectal cancer at the moment and more research is needed to explore this role of curcumin.
Curcumin may help you deal with painful joints
Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are common causes of painful joints, and curcumin has been shown to help for both conditions.
In one study, researchers divided osteoarthritis patients into two groups. One received Meriva, which is 75% curcumin, and the other received nothing. After 8 months, the Meriva group saw significant improvements in joint stiffness and pain while the control group saw no improvement at all.
In another study looking at rheumatoid arthritis patients, researchers gave some patients curcumin, others curcumin plus diclofenac sodium (an NSAID), and still others diclofenac only. At the end of the study, the group that received curcumin only fared better than the other two groups in terms of joint swelling and pain.
Curcumin helps you deal better with depression and Alzheimer’s
Curcumin increases the levels of a hormone called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF allows your neurons to replicate and form increased connections with each other, a process that’s inhibited in both depression and Alzheimer’s.
Since curcumin increases BDNF levels, it’s easy to understand how it can delay (and even reverse) depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
Right now, there’s no treatment available for Alzheimer’s, which is a leading cause of dementia worldwide.
Curcumin crosses the blood-brain barrier and helps the body break down amyloid plaques, which are protein tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s. This coupled with boosted BDNF levels make curcumin a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s, although more research is needed in this area.
Finally, in one study involving 60 participants, curcumin was found to be as effective as the antidepressant drug fluoxetine in treating depression. While this sample is too small, it’s logical that curcumin should benefit depression patients because it boosts BDNF, serotonin, and dopamine levels in the brain.
Reduced levels of all three molecules are associated with depression.
Curcumin fights free radicals
Free radicals are extremely reactive molecules that lead to cellular and DNA damage. They are implicated in cancer, aging, and many chronic inflammatory diseases. Because curcumin is a powerful antioxidant, it directly neutralizes free radicals in your body.
Not only that, but curcumin also boosts your body’s natural defenses against free radicals, doubling up on its antioxidant properties.
This reduction in free radicals is another powerful way curcumin prevents heart disease and Alzheimer’s. And since free radicals are thought to drive aging, curcumin has gained popularity as an anti-aging supplement as well!
